So I had to do it,,,, I went out and picked up the new Vizio 510 to compare against the JVC BA1 and Vizio 210 (returned my Sony CT-150 last week, for those of you keeping track of my soundbar exploits).

And the new winner is,,, drum roll please,,,,,,,,,,, the Vizio 510 !!!!!!

The details, and some pictures (just for fun) below.

As many of you might know I have been thru more soundbars than I can even keep track of at this point,, Yamaha's, Zvox, Sonys, JVC's and Vizio's just to name a few.

The JVC BA1 beat out ALL of them (in my opinion) and I was so sure it was going to stay my top choice I was not even planning on checking out the new'est Vizio 510.

I go into Costco today and there's the Vizio 510 just sitting there begging me to take it home and give it a shot,,,, how could I say no to yet another soundbar.

Hook-up was one optical cable from my BD player directly to each soundbar with my BD player set to bitstream,,,, tried PCM but that was not near as good with either soundbar.

First movie I use to compare the Vizio against the JVC BA1 is " I Am Legend" (the opening scene's/ deer hunting car chase) the JVC and the Vizio were about even,,,, I was almost ready to pack up the Vizio and take it back as I was no more impressed with it than the JVC.

Then I figured what the heck,,, I'll throw in the new Star Trek BluRay and see if I get the same results as I did with "I Am Legend".

WOW, is all I can say,,, the Vizio simply blew away the JVC BA1 when I played Star Trek,,, the Vizio 510 totally floored me,,, there was not even any need to go back and forth between each bar listening anymore.

After I poped in Star Trek and fliped the optical cable over from the JVC to the Vizio,,, the contest was over !!!!!!!

I heard things in the Star Trek soundtrack I never heard with the JVC,,, and I gota say, the Vizio really made my livng room sound like a full on moive theater,, the sonic quality, the room filling sound, the surround effect, the tone,, everything.
I couldnt stop watching the movie,,, I found myself wanting to hear each chapter of Star Trek like I was hearing and seeing the movie for the first time,,,, and that has NEVER happened to me before in all my soundbar testing.

OK, some side note's on the Vizio 510,,, the rear speaker wire's that connect to the wireless sub,,, not the cheap thin light guage wire's that seem to come with EVERY other HTiB system or soundbar,,, the 510 rear speaker wires are a nice thick guage, that really suprised me to be honest.
And if you wish to extend the wire's that's easy, just pop open the back of each speaker (there's a little door on the back of the speakers) and you can add more length if needed, the existing wire's look like they are about 15 feet (didnt not measure them as I will be adding much more length for my install) and placing the sub in the front of my room.

Ok,, that's all I can think of for now,,, I gota go pack up the JVC for a return and do a nice clean install of the Vizio.

My soundbar search is now officaly OVER,,, no more buying and returning soundbars,,,done, finnished,,,no more shoot-outs,,, I have found "for me" the perfect soundbar.

The Vizio 510 is my new top pick,, followed of course by the JVC BA1 (if you dont want or cant do rear/or side speakers.

And dont forget,,, bitstream,,,, not PCM !!!!

Also, I did not try using the optical out from my LED/LCD panel as I think going directly to any soundbar from the source is best in most case's,,, I will be ordering an optical switcher from MonoPrice tonight so I can run the optical from my BD, HD DVD and HD cable box directly to the Vizio 510.

Below are some pictures just for fun,,,,,,, any question's feel free to ask as Im sure I left something out.

The Vizio 510 sounds simply amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers
Davyo

JVC BA1, Vizio 210, Vizio 510

Vizio 510 bar sitting on top of my JVC bar,,,Vizio 55" LED playing "I Am Legend"

Davyo!!! Thanks man! I haven't pulled the trigger on the JVC unit yet and now I'll pick up the Vizio. Been holding on to a Costco cash card from a xbox return. Sweet! Only problem is sub placement now since the rear satellites need to be plugged into the sub...

EDIT: DAMN...only 1 optical IN? I can go the switcher route but it'll be a pain to get up and change every time I switch activities...

Wait a minute...you can place the sub in the back of the room and run the surround wires from that??

the Sub is wireless (needs power though) and you can hook up the speakers to this sub..
i was taking a look at the Manual at the vizio site and the bar has two modes in which you can tell it whether the speakers are in the front with the TV or in th rear...
sounds cool..

I dont even know why the Vizio 510 is in this section. It should be in the HTIB section. Having rear speakers I would expect it to have more surround effect and room filling sound. Thanks for the review but it doesn't surprise me at all that you liked it better.

As a mostly Lurker I would just like to say
GO DAVYO GO!
I am purchasing a new house in a month (1923) and it will not work for any HT.
So the wife gets the house and I get new audio equipment and with you around you are making my choices easier. So, please continue to review and upset all of those big box stores with the pictures in the break room. ( I don't know you but I doubt this will be the final shootout)
I am sure I am not the only one (lurking and reading).
Thanks for your efforts and passion for a niche in the audio world.
I think I am going with the Panasoinc g25 for the TV.

Out of curiosity, if you eliminated the 2 rear surround speakers from the equation how does the 510 sound against the 210? Are there improvements in the bar itself?

Did not try it without the rear speakers but my guess would be that it would not sound as good as the 210 with just the front 510 bar,,, thats just a guess though.
Yes, there are improvments in the bar,,, it's longer/bigger, more speakers I think and the two side tweeters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mogambokhushhua

It seems we have a new winner!!!

@Davyo, a couple of questions,
1. Is it necessary to connect the rear speakers?
2. Can you try to give us your opinion abt the soundbar without the rear speakers connected?

It seems the sound bar is bigger than the 210.

On a side note, i dont understand why Vizio cant put multiple inputs on their bars, i guess most of us have more than one components/players/consoles feeding into the TV.

Not sure if hooking up the rears is necessary, but then again you can always place the rears on side walls or even front walls.

I will try the 510 tonight with the rear vol OFF and see how just the bar itself sounds,, I will post back on that later.

Yes, the bar is much bigger and longer than the 210 bar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nenito2k

davyo did you love the vizio because it actually produces a better sound alone or because it is very good but the 2 extra speakers add that extra something that makes it better than all the other bars

Yes, it puts out a better overall tone and sound than the 210,,, and really fills the room and has a big sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete C

Wait a minute...you can place the sub in the back of the room and run the surround wires from that??

You can place the sub anywhere you want and add longer speaker wire's if needed,,,, IM putting the sub in the front of my room and adding more speaker wire to place the rears more to the side/back of my room.

Quote:

Originally Posted by l3ftonm3

I dont even know why the Vizio 510 is in this section. It should be in the HTIB section. Having rear speakers I would expect it to have more surround effect and room filling sound. Thanks for the review but it doesn't surprise me at all that you liked it better.

Yea, is it a soundbar or not a soundbar,,, its kind of a hybrid,,, but becuase the main unit is still in a bar shape and design I think its more of a soundbar than a HTiB.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dysrhythmic

Does it decode TrueHD and DTSHD? Is there a difference in letting the soundbar decode TrueHD/DTSHD vs letting the PS3 decode it and sending it as LPCM?

When I set my BD player to PCM the 510 sounded OK,, but setting the BD player to bitstream made it come to life,,,,, not sure how the 510's decoding is working and what its decoding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petch

As a mostly Lurker I would just like to say
GO DAVYO GO!
I am purchasing a new house in a month (1923) and it will not work for any HT.
So the wife gets the house and I get new audio equipment and with you around you are making my choices easier. So, please continue to review and upset all of those big box stores with the pictures in the break room. ( I don't know you but I doubt this will be the final shootout)
I am sure I am not the only one (lurking and reading).
Thanks for your efforts and passion for a niche in the audio world.
I think I am going with the Panasoinc g25 for the TV.

Thanks much for the kind words,,, and it would appear you do know me,,,, Im sure in a few months I will be testing out another soundbar,,,, even though I said I would not ,,,,, never say never.

Ohhh,,, and special shout-out/thanks to our new forum member "RJGiants75"
for posting the the Vizio 510 was in stock at Costco,,,, if he had not have posted that I would not have known about the 510 being there and going down to purchase it,,,, thanks again RJ.

Went to two different costcos before locating one. Picked it up and took it home. Hopefully I'll be able to take the bedroom htib down this weekend and setup the sound bar. Looking forward to more of your guys reviews.

Yea, is it a soundbar or not a soundbar,,, its kind of a hybrid,,, but becuase the main unit is still in a bar shape and design I think its more of a soundbar than a HTiB.

Davyo

Generally speaking home theater is 5.1 and above no? I just think it qualifies as a htib since it comes with satellites. The main reason people want soundbars is for better then tv sound but also no wires and rear speakers.

As for your finding with bitstream vs PCM, bitstream should sound better since its a 5.1 signal being sent albeit compressed. Running pcm over optical results in the player sending a stereo signal since there is not enough bandwidth to support 5.1 pcm. I can only imagine what the vizio does to the stereo signal to try to split it up for the 5 channels.

I'm having some issues getting the BD menu sounds to work with the VHT510. If I set it up to have BD menu sounds, there's no dialog sounds during the film. If i set it up to have dialog sounds, there's no BD menu sounds. I can't help but to think I'm missing some details in the sound if BD menu sounds aren't being sent. Has anyone been able to successfully have BD menu and dialog sounds?

Ohhh,,, and special shout-out/thanks to our new forum member "RJGiants75"
for posting the the Vizio 510 was in stock at Costco,,,, if he had not have posted that I would not have known about the 510 being there and going down to purchase it,,,, thanks again RJ.

Cheers
Davyo

Thanks for the kind words Davyo. I was glad to give a "heads up" to all members here that may be interested in the 510.

Now if I could ask a few noob questions:

1)When you mention BD are you referring to Blueray disc?

2)This is my first soundbar. Do I have to turn off the tv's sound when installing the soundbar?

3)With only one optical outlet, will that limit me as to how much I can hook up to the 510? I basically just have HDMI from my Fios HD DVR to my Sony HDTV. I also plan on hooking up a Blueray player as well in the near future?

My only other option that I was considering besides the Vizio would be the Sony 350. This would be for the extra inputs, FM tuner & compatibility with my Sonia Bravia set. Only problem is I haven't seen the 350 locally to listen to.

davyo, which ZVOX did you audition? I am curious about this. The ZVOX has larger drivers than this Vizio it would appear, though I am not certain. Larger drivers usually equates to a warmer, fuller sound. What did you not like about the ZVOX, and how does this Vizio handle music? I just don't want a system that sounds like a Bose...all highs and lows, but no midrange. These non-speaker company systems make me nervous. Polk has a couple new systems that look nice, but this Vizio has those true rears which are certainly better for true surround.

for those on the fence about the single optical input i've read on monoprice reviews that people have had success using a splitter as long as both sources are not on at the same time even tho monoprice says it will not work. I will probably go this route since I do not want to get up and switch optical inputs each time I change sources.

Thanks for all your soundbar tests, davyo. We all benefit from your hard work.

Have you tried the 510 with a music CD yet? Not that too many people would do that since its mainly for HT use but I remember somebody (maybe it was you) saying that the JVC was really good with CDs and I'm interested as to how musical the 510 is. Is it better than the JVC with a music input?

davyo, which ZVOX did you audition? I am curious about this. The ZVOX has larger drivers than this Vizio it would appear, though I am not certain. Larger drivers usually equates to a warmer, fuller sound. What did you not like about the ZVOX, and how does this Vizio handle music? I just don't want a system that sounds like a Bose...all highs and lows, but no midrange. These non-speaker company systems make me nervous. Polk has a couple new systems that look nice, but this Vizio has those true rears which are certainly better for true surround.

The Zvox I bought and returned was the 430HSD,,, I know the Zvox gets some good reviews but for my part I was not impressed in the least.

As far as highs, mids and lows on the Vizo I have not really noticed a lack of midrange, but then again I have not been looking for any negitives,, I have just been caught up in how much I like the overall sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nolbi-Wan

for those on the fence about the single optical input i've read on monoprice reviews that people have had success using a splitter as long as both sources are not on at the same time even tho monoprice says it will not work. I will probably go this route since I do not want to get up and switch optical inputs each time I change sources.

I just got my 3 Way optical switcher today from MonoPrice,, it was like $6.00,, I will running my BluRay, HD DVD and HD cable box thru the spliter to the Vizio.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davo52

Thanks for all your soundbar tests, davyo. We all benefit from your hard work.

Have you tried the 510 with a music CD yet? Not that too many people would do that since its mainly for HT use but I remember somebody (maybe it was you) saying that the JVC was really good with CDs and I'm interested as to how musical the 510 is. Is it better than the JVC with a music input?

Thanks for the kind words Davyo. I was glad to give a "heads up" to all members here that may be interested in the 510.

Now if I could ask a few noob questions:

1)When you mention BD are you referring to Blueray disc?

2)This is my first soundbar. Do I have to turn off the tv's sound when installing the soundbar?

3)With only one optical outlet, will that limit me as to how much I can hook up to the 510? I basically just have HDMI from my Fios HD DVR to my Sony HDTV. I also plan on hooking up a Blueray player as well in the near future?

My only other option that I was considering besides the Vizio would be the Sony 350. This would be for the extra inputs, FM tuner & compatibility with my Sonia Bravia set. Only problem is I haven't seen the 350 locally to listen to.

1) Yes, BD is BluRay
2) No
3) Get an optical spliter from MonoPrice (link at the top of this page) I also got an HDMI spliter from them to use for spliting the video feed's to my Epson projector and my Vizio 55" flat panel.
I have owned the CT-350 but did have the CT-150 and I can say for a fact that the Vizio 510 kicks the Sony CT-150's ass.

A small issue with my Vizio 510,,, the level indicator LED lights on the bar itself are working intermitantly,,, I had to unplug the bars power cord a few time to get it to reboot the LED lights,,,,, I think I will take "just" the bar back to Costco and see if I can exchange it for another bar as there is no way I want to pack up the whole system to do an exchange just because the bar has a glich as I got the install all finished, rear wires extended and hidden under the carpet, rear speakers hung and all other connections and power cords hidden,,,, no way am I taking everything apart just to exchange the bar.

A small issue with my Vizio 510,,, the level indicator LED lights on the bar itself are working intermitantly,,, I had to unplug the bars power cord a few time to get it to reboot the LED lights,,,,, I think I will take "just" the bar back to Costco and see if I can exchange it for another bar as there is no way I want to pack up the whole system to do an exchange just because the bar has a glich as I got the install all finished, rear wires extended and hidden under the carpet, rear speakers hung and all other connections and power cords hidden,,,, no way am I taking everything apart just to exchange the bar.

Hope-fully Costco will let me do that.

Cheers
Davyo

If not purchase another VHT510 and swap bars then return since the bar is packaged at the top and would be easy to get to without ripping up everything.

A small issue with my Vizio 510,,, the level indicator LED lights on the bar itself are working intermitantly,,, I had to unplug the bars power cord a few time to get it to reboot the LED lights,,,,, I think I will take "just" the bar back to Costco and see if I can exchange it for another bar as there is no way I want to pack up the whole system to do an exchange just because the bar has a glich as I got the install all finished, rear wires extended and hidden under the carpet, rear speakers hung and all other connections and power cords hidden,,,, no way am I taking everything apart just to exchange the bar.

Hope-fully Costco will let me do that.

Cheers
Davyo

I have this issue on a 210 and I've heard a few complaints from various posts around the web as well. The other issue I had was the bar locking into Client mode vs Hub mode. After an hour of messing around it finally went back to Hub mode by itself. As much as I like the sound out of the 210 I am a little concerned about these bugs.

My Sony SXRD is 6 years old and has an optical digital output. The ZVOX soundbars all rely on the TV being used as the main switch, and it is simple and works well. Are newer sets skimping on this feature?

1) Yes, BD is BluRay
2) No
3) Get an optical spliter from MonoPrice (link at the top of this page) I also got an HDMI spliter from them to use for spliting the video feed's to my Epson projector and my Vizio 55" flat panel.
I have owned the CT-350 but did have the CT-150 and I can say for a fact that the Vizio 510 kicks the Sony CT-150's ass.

Cheers
Davyo

Hey Davyo, first off , thanks for all your reviews. I follow them closely. Question...
Is there any difference in sound using your tv to switch from hdmi sources (BD,Game Sytem) to output through a single optical cable to the soundbar vs an optical switch?